GAMEPLAY STYLE:

Oni is a character with very strong offense but weak health and stun, making him a risk-reward type of character. He has a great mix-up game and he has fairly good mobility, with several of his special moves also giving him movement options. He has a weak projectile but has several ways to get around projectiles and opponent zoning with the aid of special moves. Both of his Ultras are useful and Oni has great damage potential with his combos.

COMMUNITY VIDEOS:

SSF4:AE Oni Tutorial by TrU3Ta1ent: This is an excellent tutorial video, with its biggest selling point being that it gives you several excellent examples on how to build up combos that do great damage reliably.

Crouching Light Punch is a fast move and is a good combo-starter. It can combo into itself or into Crouching Light Kick easily.

Crouching Light Kick is a fast move and good combo-starter and can combo into itself or into Crouching Light Punch easily. One interesting facet of this move is that you can combo from Crouching Light Kick into Oni's Fireball. It takes some timing though, so practice.

Standing Medium Kick is a pretty good anti-air.

Diagonal Jump Medium Kick is one of Oni's cross-up attacks and is very useful as a mix-up tool. Like any good cross-up, it is easy to combo after a successful attack for big damage, so find a good bread-and-butter combo to guarantee yourself good damage if you hit with this.

Crouching Heavy Punch is a great anti-air. It has pretty fast start-up for a move of this type, making it very quick. Make sure you still practice the timing, however, as it does have considerable recovery time if you don't time it correctly.

COMMAND MOVES:

FORWARD + MEDIUM PUNCH

With this move Oni does a two-hit overhead chop attack which, as you would guess, is his overhead move. As always, this move is useful when your opponent is crouch-blocking a lot. Just be sure to use it when you think your opponent will not expect it.

FORWARD + HEAVY PUNCH

Oni's Forward + Heavy Punch is pretty useful in that it can actually negate many projectiles. It's also relatively safe on block and has decent range.

GOUHADOKEN (FIREBALL)

(HOLD PUNCH TO CHARGE)

QUARTER CIRCLE FORWARD + PUNCH (HOLD PUNCH TO CHARGE)

Oni's fireball projectile works a bit differently than most characters. This move, when used without charging, do not reach across the whole screen and fizzle out about 3/4 of the way across. All three normal versions seem to have the same range in this regard. The uncharged versions all do the same amount of damage regardless of which Punch button, have roughly the same recovery, and only slightly vary in start-up with the Light Punch having the most and Heavy Punch having the least. The speed of the fireball also varies very slightly with the Light Punch traveling the slowest and the Heavy Punch traveling the fastest.

If you charge the fireball fully it will reach all the way across the screen and will inflict two hits instead of one. Of course this significantly increases the start-up time as you charge the move, so use it when you know your opponent can't punish you with any of his own moves.

The EX version hits twice and travels full-screen just like the fully charged up normal version, but starts up a little bit faster. This move can be useful for punishing an opponent's focus attack start-up or for breaking through an opponent's one-hit projectile.

GORAI HADOKEN (RED FIREBALL)

HALF CIRCLE BACK + PUNCH

Oni's Red Fireball is only useful in isolated situations as the recovery on this move is pretty long. The Light Punch version starts up and recovers the fastest and does one hit. The Medium Punch version does two hits and starts up and recovers slightly slower. The Heavy Punch version does three hits, doing the most damage and stun among normal versions, but also starts up and recovers the slowest.

The EX version has the fastest startup and recovery of all versions. It hits three times just like the Heavy Punch version, although it does slightly more damage. Once again, despite this move being the fastest version it still starts and recovers slowly which reduces its usefulness. Unless you are in a situation where landing this move can make a real difference, such as ending the match with a win, it is better to save the meter for something more useful.

ZANKU HADOSHO **IN AIR ONLY**

QUARTER CIRCLE BACK + PUNCH (WHILE IN AIR)

The Zanku Hadosho gives Oni some aerial maneuverability which is pretty unique to the character. Each of the three Punch button variants perform three unique air maneuvers.

The Light Punch version dashes Oni forward a good distance which can be useful for avoiding projectiles or other ground-level attacks as well as potentially getting in on a distant opponent. Use carefully if you try to use this to get in his face, as there is recovery to this move and you can get punished. If you are using this against an opponent who is trying to jump away you can follow up in the air with a Hurricane Kick.

The Medium Punch version keeps Oni stationary in the air for a brief time, allowing him to dodge ground-level attacks while still maintaining the same screen position if used when neutral jumping or jumping trajectory if used while diagonal jumping. It also can be followed up with a Hurricane Kick liike the Light Punch version. It can also be useful as an overhead attack.

Using the Heavy Punch version gives Oni an air back-dash. Use it to avoid some ground level attacks and as a quick way to retreat to full-screen. Unlike the Light and Medium Punch versions, you cannot follow up with a Hurricane Kick.

GOSHORYUKEN (DRAGON PUNCH)

FORWARD, DOWN, DOWN-FORWARD + PUNCH

Oni's Dragon Punch seems to be a mixture of Akuma's and Ryu's versions. It has an incredibly short start-up for every version (identical across all versions), which of course makes it great for punishes. Like Akuma's version it does multiple hits, with every version hitting three times. It is interesting to note that Oni's Dragon punch has significantly faster recovery time compared to Ryu's, making this move far safer overall and harder to punish.

Like any good Dragon Punch this move has frames of invincibility at the beginning of the move, making it a great anti-air as well. It depends upon personal taste, but the Heavy Punch version works best among the normal versions as an anti-air as it has the most frames of invincibility. The fast recovery time of the move makes it even better in this regard.

The Light Punch version has the least frames of invincibility, does the least amount of damage, has the shortest vertical height for the attack and thus has the shortest recovery time. The Heavy Punch version does the most damage of the normal versions, has the most invincibility, has the most vertical height on the attack and recovers the slowest.

The EX version of this move does more damage than the other versions and has more frames of invincibility. There is no other difference, so save the meter unless you are in dire need of either of these properties.

One area where Oni's Dragon Punch is inferior to others is in its FADC options. Oni's Dragon Punch can only FADC for more damage when it hits. You cannot FADC out of the move dashing backward if it is blocked like you can with other moves of this type, making it not as safe regardless of how much meter you have available. In addition, you can only perform the FADC after the second hit of the move. You can combo into a Demon Palm or either of Oni's Ultras.

TATSUMAKI (HURRICANE KICK) **ARMOR BREAKING**

QUARTER CIRCLE BACK + KICK

Oni's Hurricane Kick is most useful for getting knockdowns and as a combo-ender. It is great as a combo-ender not just because of the damage it adds, but also because it gives you time to get back into position near the opponent after the knockdown.

Unlike Akuma's Hurricane Kick, you cannot follow up with a Dragon Punch if you hit in a practical way. The only way is if you use the Hurricane Kick from its max distance, hit your opponent with just the last hit of the move, and if the opponent is in the corner. If they get hit with that, they deserve the Shoryuken follow-up.

The Light Kick version does one hit and the least amount of horizontal movement, the Medium Kick version does two hits (more damage) and the Heavy Punch does three hits (most damage) and travels the farthest. If you use this move in the air Oni will just hover for a bit and then return to the ground. You can also use this move as a follow-up to a Zanku Hadosho dash to hit an airborne opponent.

You can use this move as a cross-up but the timing is very tough so practice this often against multiple characters (different sizes and hitbox shapes) if you want to add this to your offensive options.

The EX version does the same damage as the Heavy Kick version but keeps you in-place for the duration, juggling your opponent afterward. If you are near the corner and you land this move you can jubble into either of Oni's Ultras.

SEKISEI JIRAIKEN (DEMON PALM)

FORWARD, DOWN, DOWN-FORWARD + KICK

The Demon Palm is another move that is unique to Oni and is extremely useful. With this move Oni will leap into the air and then quickly slam his fist straight down. The move can be blocked high or low, but it comes out pretty fast and can be hard to react to. What's even better is that every version of thos move results in a hard knockdown, which puts the opponent into Oni's mix-up game on wakeup.

The Light Kick and Medium Kick versions both come out the fastest with the Light Kick version having slightly more recovery time. The Light Kick version also does more damage than the Medium Kick version. The Heavy Kick version does the most damage, has the most startup and the least recovery.

You can combo into this move from the EX Demon Slash and other moves that put opponents into a juggle.

The EX version of this move is a two-hit attack, making it useful to break up an opponent's Focus Attack. Also, the first hit of the EX Demon Palm is an overhead attack, giving Oni a fantastic tool for his mix-up game.

RAKAN DANTOJIN (DEMON SLASH) **ARMOR BREAKING**

HALF CIRCLE FORWARD + KICK

Oni has a lot of useful tools available to him, and the Demon Slash is useful for offense, mix-ups, and punishes. With this move Oni propells himself forward a short distance and then performs a slashing attack.

The Light Kick version moves Oni forward a short distance before the slashing attack. It is also safe on block against most opponents, so it can be used to close a short distance with an opponent. It is not safe against characters with zero-frame grabs like grapplers.

The Medium Kick version has some invincibility to projectiles during the forward movement phase of the move, which can come in handy if you anticipate such a move from your opponent and you are close enough to hit him before he recovers. Be careful and practice this tactic if you intend to use it, however, as it is unsafe on block and you can get punished with improper timing. This move also results in a knockdown if you connect, which leaves your opponent open to Oni's mix-up game.

The Heavy Kick version has the most forward movement before the slash attack and gives you even more projectile invincibility, although you should still heed the cautions put forth for the Medium Kick version. What is intersting about this version is that if you are close enough when you start this move you can pass through your opponent and the slash attack will be a cross-up, hitting the other side. If you learn the timing this can become an important peice of Oni's mix-up game. Be careful not to abuse it, however, as you can be punished by a quick attack or a throw if your opponent blocks the slash correctly.

The EX version of the Demon Slash is invincible to projectiles during the entire forward movement phase and retains the ability to cross-up that the Heavy Kick version has. It also juggles the opponent further into the air, allowing you to follow up with a Dragon Punch, Demon Palm (if opponent is in the corner) or an Ultra.

If you connect with this move you can FADC forward and continue a combo, as Oni is considered to be grounded during the slash attack. You cannot FADC out of the Hard Punch version if you use it to cross-up your opponent, however.

SUPER - RAGING DEMON

LIGHT PUNCH, LIGHT PUNCH, TOWARD, LIGHT KICK, HARD PUNCH

NOTE: There is a shortcut to doing this move. Instead of hitting all of the inputs one at a time in sequence you can hit FORWARD + LIGHT KICK + HEAVY PUNCH at the same time. This can be extremely helpful.

Oni's Raging Demon is unique in that you can perform it in mid-air! You can do it almost instantly upon leaving the ground by using one of the following methods:

LP, LP, UP-FORWARD, LK, HP

Notice that instead of just inputting FORWARD, you input UP-FORWARD and then follow through with the rest quickly. You can also use the shortcut for this super (found above) only once again substitute FORWARD for UP-FORWARD. You can delay the initiation of the Raging Demon so that it is higher off the ground simply by holding UP-FORWARD while you input Light Kick.

This means that you can Raging Demon opponents who have jumped, which may not sound like much but if they are jumping forward towards you they obviously cannot dodge out of the way and most characters do not have a Special Move available while in the air that can counter it. Also, you can cancel into Raging Demon from the Zanku Hadosho air dash at any time.

ULTRA 1 - MEIDO GOHADO

OR

QUARTER CIRCLE FORWARD X2 + THREE PUNCHES

Meido Gohado is a giant fireball Ultra that, as you would suspect, is tremendously useful and versitile. Like Oni's Raging Demon, this Ultra has a unique characterstic in that it is the only Fireball Ultra that can be initiated while in the air. It doesn't have many practical uses aside from trying to punish your opponent while you are still in the air or performing the Zanku Hadosho dash but more options don't hurt.

This move also is unique in that if you hit an opponent who is pretty close there will an extended flashy animation and you will do even more damage than if you hit with this move at range.

If you use three Kicks instead of Punches to initiate the move the Meido Gohado fireball will come out at an upward angle. In addition, this version also gives Oni total upper-body invincibility, making this obviously a fantastic anti-air.

The main methods for comboing into the Meido Gohado fireball are as follows:

After an EX Hurricane Kick when you are near the corner

After an EX Demon Slash

FADCing out of a Shoryuken (see above)

ULTRA 2 - TENCHI SOKAIGEN

HALF CIRCLE FORWARD X 2 + THREE PUNCHES

Oni's Tenchi Sokaigen has an amazing cinematic and also does huge damage. The methods mentioned above for comboing into Ultra 1 also work here. However, if you go into Ultra 2 from a juggle you won't get the full animation or damage, although the damage is still good.

Another interesting facet of this Ultra is that Oni is completely invincible for the beginning part of the animation, making it a pretty awesome counter or reversal.